Lake Tahoe and Reno August/September 2005

We visited Lake Tahoe and Reno in August 2005. This is a very beautiful part of the United States. We spent 2 nights in downtown Reno at the El Dorado. This hotel/casino is connected to the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus by walkways, so you never have to leave the indoors. Since I am used to the beautiful Connecticut casinos, these casinos pale in comparison, though the El Dorado does have a fabulous breakfast buffet. On the third day, we drove from Reno to Stateline, Nevada, to stay for the week at the timeshare we had reserved, The Ridge Tahoe. If you have never driven to Tahoe (and particularly if you are not used to mountainous driving), this can be somewhat scary at first. Once you leave the Carson Valley, you are on an uphill climb to the 6,200 feet above sea level where the lake sits.

Then, the timeshare is actually up the Kingsbury grade alongside Heavenly Valley, and oh boy, what a drive. However, the views are awesomely spectacular and well worth the anxiety of the drive!

Lake Tahoe is the world’s second largest alpine lake. It is so deep that the bottom of the lake is actually lower than Carson City. We heard that if it were drained, it could cover the entire state of California at about 2 feet in depth! It is so deep that it actually reflects the sky, so that no matter what time of year it is, it always looks blue AND it never freezes. Add mountains all around it and you will exclaim continually about the beautiful sights.

Stateline Nevada and South Lake Tahoe California are at the southern part of the lake and where we spent the majority of our time. Some of the best ski areas in the country surround Lake Tahoe, as well as many casinos.

Quick Tips:

We suggest that before you go, you invest in an entertainment book available for Lake Tahoe and Reno. We saved a LOT of money on restaurants and boat trips with this book. Also, there are definitely a lot of coupon books available. You can find one just about anywhere. We found ours at the IHOP. Another hint is to buy tickets to the casino shows online at either Tickets.Com or Ticketmaster.com, or in some cases, on the casino’s own website.

Best Way To Get Around:

Throughout the area is a shuttle called BlueGo. We never used it because we had a rental car, but supposedly it will take you all over the area and each trip costs . I call that a bargain!

We rented a car from Avis at the Reno airport, but we noticed that many of the major car-rental companies had cars available at the airport.

Best Things Nearby:
Lake Tahoe, Reno, Heavenly Valley ski area, Zephyr Cove Beach and MS Dixie steamboat rides, and South Lake Tahoe casinos

Best Things About the Resort:
The view

Resort Experience:
First of all, nothing can prepare you for the ride up to this resort. The first hint is that it says in the description that it is on the Kingsbury Grade! You drive to the top of the Kingsbury Grade at Dagget Summit, and you are at 7,300 feet and the resort is still higher at 7,800 feet. If you are the faint-of-heart type about driving on mountains, beware, BUT once you are there, the view of the Carson Valley is to die for. However, be aware, YOU CANNOT see Lake Tahoe from this resort.

The resort has several buildings. We were in Naegle 10. Even though the building is several stories high, you never have to climb a stair. You park your car in the covered garage and take the elevator to your floor. The two-bedroom unit (no. 1021) we had was great. The best part was the outside deck, which was very large, with several chairs, a table, a grill, and a VIEW! The kitchen is not real big, but we did not cook, so it was great for what we needed it for. The living room is the best. There was a nice, big fireplace, couch, chair with an ottoman, TV, and coffee table. There was also a dining table with views out to the deck and beyond.

The master bedroom had a king-size bed but inadequate dresser space. There was a nice view off the deck, but there is no access to the deck since the sliding door is permanently locked (don't know why!). There is a huge walk-in closet off the master bath and a huge bathtub/shower.

The second bedroom has NO WINDOWS, so beware if you are claustrophobic. It does have a beautiful skylight, but very high up. The bath off this room has a double shower! The resort itself has a gondola to get to Heavenly's stagecoach lodge, two nice pools, its own movie theater, a restaurant, a deli, a store, a fitness center, squash courts, and a recently added wedding garden overlooking the Carson Valley!

When you arrive, they give you a book of all the activities scheduled for the week. Also, every morning, the resort director leaves a message on your phone stating the daily activities taking place (like a barbecue or discounts in the store).

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Of course, this is a typical Hard Rock Cafe. The food is the same wherever we have been which means it is very good! The waitress we had was a bit frazzled even though the restaurant had very few tables occupied. The day we were there was the day after Hurricane Katrina. The Hard Rock in Gulfport, MS, had just been totally destroyed. The manager of this Hard Rock was very devastated because he knew the employees in Gulfport and had, in fact, trained many of them. So, our most memorable time here is that we spent most of it listening to the manager's story. It was good to know that they were accepting donations at that moment to help the Hard Rock family. The other thing I liked about the Hard Rock was that you could charge your souvenirs to the same bill as your meals.

This is where the locals go. Lakeside advertises their Prime Rib as award winning. Indeed, they have won the Best of Tahoe awards for several years running!

So, of course, we ordered prime rib. This meal was our last night in Tahoe and we were mad at ourselves because this meal was so good that we would have liked to go there again. Oh well, there's always next time! Anyway, if you sign up for their comp card for the first time and you have a coupon from a local coupon book, you will receive a coupon for $2.00 off the prime rib. Now this is really a steal. The regular price is $8.95 which is already a steal!

You get a whole bread basket when you order with really good bread. You also have a choice of the soup of the day or a salad. The soup du jour that day sounded strange but was absolutely delicious (Sweet Potato with Crab). The meal came with a baked potato, a bunch of roasted vegetables, and a very nice cut of prime rib. I ordered mine rare to medium-rare. It was exactly that. Jim's was medium, and that is exactly what he got. They served it with a little cup of au jus and a little cup of horseradish. The bus person brought around a tray to dress up your baked potato which had butter, sour cream, chives, and bacon bits. She took a heaping glob of each and threw it on there! The meal probably added a lot of cholesterol but it was SO good. Besides, we were on vacation!

There were a slew of other options for the meals, and they did have some really good-sounding desserts, but this was enough. The service was really quick and friendly.

The Fresh Ketch restaurant is right on the water in the Tahoe Keys Marina. You can choose the fine dining upstairs with panoramic views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains or casual dining downstairs. There is also outside lawn dining if you want to see the sunsets.

We chose upstairs and what we mostly had a view of was the boats. Being from a seacoast state, I have seen better marina views, but not with the mountains as backdrop.

We ordered drinks. Jim ordered a Tom Collins but they had no idea what that was! It certainly did not taste like one.

The waiter, Sean, was friendly but seemed to be very busy. The people at the table next to us were arguing, so that was somewhat interesting.

Anyway, the special of the day was three types of fish, grilled, but with one sauce spread over all three, which tended to make them all taste the same. Jim had that. It was $24.

I had the scampi - jumbo prawns sauteed with garlic, tomatoes, and basil and finished with a sherry butter reduction for $23. It was tasty but not spectacular. I am a shrimp/prawn aficionado, and this I would rate in my top ten!

Again, they had some dessert that sounded great, but we were full. I thought that the fact that they served Key Lime pie in the Lake Tahoe Keys was a good joke!

This is supposedly where the locals go. Monday Night Football was playing on the screens and people were playing KENO. As a matter of fact, another patron won 6 for 6 while we were there and bought everyone drinks.

The food is usual pub-type food. There are burgers, steaks, salads, and ribs. Jim had ribs and I had a salad, and they were both substantial and tasted great. The best part about this place is the service. Our waitress, Candace, sat down and chatted about the area, and we totally enjoyed her company.

We found this restaurant in the Entertainment Book and had to track it down on the map. It is off the beaten path and doesn't actually look like a restaurant from the outside. This is actually two restaurants in one. The upstairs is the pub and the downstairs is the restaurant. We ate downstairs. We ate inside, but you can also sit out on the lawn. The waitress was very friendly, but somehow she kept confusing us with another customer, which we got to laughing about.

Jim ordered pan-roast halibut Newburg with lobster and mushroom cream for $20, which he said was very tasty. The waitress told us that it was her favorite dish. I had crab and jack cheese-stuffed baked sole fillet for $19, which was also good but not great!

In addition to seafood, they also serve various cuts of steak and chicken cordon blue. They also serve grilled Portobello mushroom stuffed with brie fondue for the vegetarians, and pasta creations are offered each evening. They had a nice dessert menu, but we were good. The couple next to us raved about the crème brulee.

On our journey up to our timeshare, we were a bit early for check-in. We decided to look for a place to get a bite and found this little gem. It is at the top of Heavenly Valley, and we were told that this is THE après-ski place to be on the Nevada side.

They serve pizza and burgers. The first day we stopped we had drinks and an appetizer sampler. It was huge and came with mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fried zucchini, and onion rings. It was very good. When we received the bill, there was a coupon attached for 10% off pizzas or breakfast, so we returned one day for breakfast.

We had omelettes, which turned out to be good but greasy. I probably could have done without the bacon! The coffee was really good.

This is the original Lake Tahoe brewpub. They brew ales and seasonal beers, plus they make the best pizza in town according to their ads. House specials include homemade soups, "Old Bay" style beer-steamed shrimp, hot wings, and more.

They were cooking barbecue style and Jim had ribs and corn on the cob right off their barbecue. They cook outside right along the road, and it is definitely an enticement.

I had a calzone-bread sandwich. I have eaten calzones, but never calzone bread. It was sooooo good.

Now, as for the ales, I don't drink much beer or ale, but Jim is a connoisseur and he was not impressed. I, however, thought the iced tea was really good.

We found this restaurant in the Entertainment Book. Now, let me state that in Connecticut, we dine in casino restaurants a lot. They have really good chefs and do not tend towards the pretentious.

Primavera struck us as vastly overpriced for what was served. Jim had a cioppino of various seafood and shell fish in a spicy marinara sauce. He said that it was good, but to me it smelled like fish. Fresh fish should not have an odor, but this did!

I had a steak, which was good, but, again, vastly overpriced. Luckily, we had the Entertainment Book, which gave me my meal for free, but it was still too pricey!

The restaurant was dark but probably would be classified as romantic if we did not have a very loud patron at an adjacent table.

It’s not the restaurant's fault perhaps and it does tend to happen in a lot of casinos, but there are no restrooms in the restaurant and one must travel across the casino and through a hallway to get to them. This is just an added inconvenience to a very expensive evening!

I love IHOP's. No matter where you go in this country, IHOP has the same great breakfasts: Pigs in Blankets, Cheese Blintz's, a Denver Omelette, hearty grain pancakes, and pitchers of coffee at your table. The Lake Tahoe IHOP is no exception, and we enjoyed several breakfasts here! The manager came around and made sure that everything was going well. We had superb servers and good experiences all the way around. And say hello to Phong, who was by far the best server we had in our entire 10 days in the Reno/Tahoe area!

This cafe is on the road to Heavenly on the California side. You have to visit this cafe just to see the eclectic collection of ski paraphernalia, ranging from signs to skis. The cafe has a coffee bar and a very cozy little seating area with a couch surrounding a fireplace just to relax and sip your coffee. There are several different types of tables and chairs available for table service. There are the standard breakfast choices, but there are also several different types. As a matter of fact, here is their breakfast menu:

Blue Angel Benedict - made with French bread, traditional Hollandaise, and poached eggs. Served with Proscuitto or Spinach (Grilled eggplant may be substituted for bread)
Full Monty - 2 eggs with 2 sausages, 2 slices bacon, a grilled tomato, and 2 slices of toast
Mini Monty - 1 egg, 1 sausage, 1 slice bacon, grilled tomato, and toast
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagel - toasted bagel with cream cheese with smoked salmon, capers, onion, lettuce, and tomato
Lemon French Toast - with seasonal fruit, whipped cream, powdered sugar, and shredded coconut
Hard Crack Granola - with honey and yogurt
Pasta Carbonara – Italian Miner’s Breakfast - pancetta, egg, and pasta
Frittata of the Day
Skiers and Snowboarders Breakfast… to go… 7am to 11am
Sausage, Egg, Cheese, and Potato Burrito Ham, Egg, and Cheese Croissant
Toasted Bagel and Cream Cheese
Vegetarian substitute grilled Tomato for Sausage or Ham. Jim had the Full Monty and I had the Mini Monty. Both were excellent! The coffee was really good too! Check out the totem pole outside carved from one single tree trunk.

This was the second cruise we took during the week on the MS Dixie, a sternwheeler. This trip took us to Emerald Bay, the only part of Lake Tahoe that is Emerald green and not Blue. It is the site of the only island on all of Lake Tahoe and at one time it had a tea house on it. Now the shell is all that remains. At the far end of the bay is also Vikingsholm Castle which is the most realistic Nordic Castle in North America. This boat trip we spent the entire trip on the third deck at the stern of the boat with the sternwheel splashing us with a fine mist. The boat holds about 200 people, but this one was about half full.

Fuaion 2 is a magic show. It is a comedy show. It has a juggler. It is very entertaining. The magic is good. The theater is small, and we thought that we would be able to figure out some of the tricks, but we could not. The juggler was amazing. You are required to get one drink, but amazingly the drinks were really good!

The MS Dixie has several cruises available. The MS Dixie is a sternwheeler and has a huge red wheel at its stern. Very picturesque!

This particular cruise was the breakfast cruise to Glenbrook on the eastern side of the lake, leaving from Zephyr Cove. We actually booked this cruise online from the Lake Tahoe website. The booking company was Viator. For two, the cruise was $56 and included breakfast. If you drive there, you also have to pay $8 to park at Zephyr Cove Beach (but you can stay at the beach for the rest of the day if you so choose!). They also have shuttles available, but I’m just not sure where they shuttle from

Everyone is asked to arrive at 8:30am for the breakfast buffet. There were about 40 people on our cruise, but it looked as though about 200 people could be accommodated. The buffet had eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, pastries, cereal, coffee, juice, and milk. It was very good, and the wait staff was very friendly.

During breakfast, we set sail at 9am and journeyed along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe. They also showed a video of all the hidden treasures found beneath the surface of Lake Tahoe. This video was fascinating. The trip to Glenbrook took about 45 minutes.

Glenbrook is an old logging town. During the Silver Rush at Virginia City, they actually stripped the Lake Tahoe area of most of its trees for use at Virginia City and Glenbrook was the site of all of the activity. Glenbrook is now an exclusive community on the lake.

The views are spectacular on this cruise. The lake is so blue and even in summer the mountains had some snow on their peaks! A landmark on the lake is Cave Rock. It is a HUGE rock, through which they have carved the road. On the return trip at the bottom of Cave Rock, you can see a profile of a woman that they call Lady of the Lake. It is actually a natural rock formation, but it really does look like a woman.

The boat has three levels, so we chose to go to the third level for the ride back. We arrived back at Zephyr Cove after a nice, relaxing drive sitting in the sun and working on our tans. A slight spray came off of the stern wheel as we sat back and enjoyed the day! We pulled into the dock at 10:30.

There are six major casinos in the heart of Stateline. These are Harvey's, Harrah's, Caesar's, Horizon, Bill's, and the Lakeside Inn. There are rumored to be more, but we didn't find them. We visited all but Bill's. The funniest thing is that the doorways for Harrah's and Harvey's are right on the California line. You can just go from one state to another to gamble. Please know that we only play the slots, and on this trip we only played nickels and pennies. Nonetheless, we were able to spend many, many hours enjoying the various video-reel slots.

Our favorite casino to gamble in was Harvey's. This is because we both won here. We spent many hours on a new slot in the "Reel 'em in" series. We both won (and lost) quite a bit on this one! The most enjoyable experience was at the Lakeside Inn and Casino. They really seem to care about their guests and make many promotions available to those who have a player's card. BIG TIP: Get a player's card at all of the casinos that you gamble at! This makes you eligible for promotions and will pay you when you come back.

In short, gambling was part of the reason we came to Lake Tahoe. We consider it an entertaining way to spend part of our vacation. The casinos of Stateline afforded us many fun hours without totally losing our shirts!

I live on a lake in Connecticut that is 7 miles around. At least once a week I drive around it. So, of course, when we journeyed to Lake Tahoe, we knew that we would have to drive around it at least once just to say we did it. NOW, Lake Tahoe is about 10 times farther around--about 72 miles--and it is in the MOUNTAINS, so it is a totally different adventure. We started out going counterclockwise around the lake but soon realized that the driver would not see too much because he was trying to drive and the passenger was too far away to see much, so around Cave Rock we turned around and started travelling clockwise; all the views were much better this way! The first major area we came to was Zephyr Cove.